


The Alienated Society of Deathmates

by santwalker



Category: None - Fandom
Genre: BoyxBoy, Drama, Dystopian, F/F, Fiction, Gay, LGBT, LGBTQ, M/M, Music, Romance, Sci-Fi, Science Fiction, Theatre, Tragedy, bxb - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-03
Updated: 2021-02-01
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:22:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24521533
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/santwalker/pseuds/santwalker
Summary: When a popular high school student, Mason Stewart, discovers he's Bryan Miller's deathmate, a criminal everyone wants dead, he will do anything he can to protect him in order to stay alive."What's a deathmate, Mason?"(...)Mason tried to formulate the sentence in his head before saying it. "A deathmate is someone who will die at the same time as you, so, if you die, they die too, and if they die, you die."Aden's eyes widened."But you don't have to worry about that. It only happens when you're 17. Or, like, near 17," Mason tried to relieve the little boy."You turn 17 tomorrow!" Aden jumped in astound and put his hands on Mason's shoulder."Yeah, it's when you're allowed to know who your deathmate is."A  dystopian tragedy by Sant Walker.
Kudos: 3





	1. Chapter 1

April 26th, 2057.   
The tenacious hot weather obliged people to stay inside their houses.   
"Gotta work on my swing, gotta do my own thing," the song echoed through Agnes' bedroom as the teenagers jumped from one bed to another. Mason threw himself to the ground followed by Zane jumping upon him. Mason turned his body to face the other boy's direction. Their faces being a few inches apart, they sang along the lyrics of the high school musical performance, "bet on it", having Mason portraying Zane's figure in the water. 

"It's no good at all to see yourself and not recognize your face, out on my own, it's such a scary place," the air conditioner's wind was hitting the back of Zane's sweaty neck and making a few strikes of Agnes' hair to lift up. The girl kneeled the wood floor, her hands holding her just-bought phone. She filmed the boys' performance, their very dramatic faces causing her to giggle. 

"The answers are all inside of me, all I gotta do is believe," the door suddenly opened, seconds before the boys could finish the song's latest sentence.  
Agnes' mom analyzed the scene in wither as the kids quickly stood up to hear what the middle-aged woman had to say.

"Turn the music off, Elsa," Agnes told the virtual assistant AI.   
"You named your bot Elsa?" Zane laughed at her. "What happened to Zendaya?"  
"She got old."  
"And you're only realizing that now?"  
"Who's Elsa?" Ms. Alderman asked, still disturbed from the scene she had just walked in.  
"Just a pretty name, mom."  
The boys tried to hold back their laughter.  
Agnes narrowed her eyes at them in a cold gaze.  
"She isn't that one, uh, gay," Ms. Alderman struggled to say the word. "princess, is she?"  
Zane crossed his arms and put a hand over his mouth as Mason rested the front part of his head on Zane's shoulder so Ms. Alderman couldn't notice their laughter.  
"Obviously not, mom. You know I didn't even watch Frozen."  
"Didn't watch Frozen, my ass," Mason whispered to Zane, making the boy laugh. He remembered the times when Agnes made them watch multiple Disney movies in a row. Now the three probably knew all of the Disney filmographiy in existing.

"Oh, okay, good. Uh, Mason," the woman turned to look at the boy, with an eyebrow lifted up, as Mason fixed his hair, which was sticking in his face from all the sweat. "your dad called. He said he had to take an unexpected flight today so, you can stay here with us." Mason's face went from delight to disappointment. His brows were knitted in a frown. His jaw, a little fallen. 

"A flight? Again? It's like the third time this month," the boy snapped. Then something came to his mind. "Wait, is he at least staying for my birthday?"  
"I don't know. He didn't say when he'd be back," the woman said.

Mason worried. Concern rose all upon his face. He had already spent a birthday without his dad. But this year he'd be seventeen. He would find out who his deathmate was. And the presence of a parent was indispensably important.

"Are you having dinner with us, Zane?" the woman changed the subject.  
"No, sorry," he picked up his backpack from the ground "my mom wanted me to get home early so I could take care of my sister," he went near his friends and kissed Agnes' forehead, then messed up Mason's blonde wet hair and walked towards Agnes' mom.   
"Yo! Where's my kiss?" Mason joked.  
"I'll kiss your ass later. Adios assholes!"   
The woman's eyes widened in surprise.   
"Uhh, sorry," Zane mumbled. "Bye, Ms. Alderman!" He quickly walked past the door and after a few seconds, a loud door shutting was heard. Mason and Agnes burst into laughter.

"This morning, the President Hayes' sculpture at the Lafayette Square was found beheaded. The main suspect of the vandalism act is the 16-year-old criminal Bryan Miller. The teenager has committed multiple felonies including kidnapping, burglary and murder. He's been sought by the police for months. If you have seen him, please contact us. Call the number on our screen and enter our site for more information on Miller. We'd love to hear from you." The sound of the reporter's voice came from the hologram display. The family of 5 and Mason ate their dinner. 

"Ah, this guy again? How can it be that hard to find a 16-year-old? I'm thinking of volunteering myself to search for this kid. Seriously," Mr. Alderman exclaimed.  
"Seems suspicious to me," everyone turned to look at Agnes. "I mean, in front of the white house? How did no one see that?"  
"Who do you think it was then? Someone would've seen it too, right? Based on your logic," her father said while Mason's confused looking eyes traced from Agnes to Mr. Alderman.   
"I don't know. It just seems weird. Like, from the number of crimes Bryan Miller has done these past days, it's impossible not to catch him. I mean he's also killed people, so..."  
"Are you defending this criminal, now?"  
"I'm not defending him. This all just seems pretty weird, you know," Agnes said.  
"Oh, you kids and your... 'theories'. Some day you gotta wake up and see that the world doesn't work like. You wanna know how many homicides have happened right under our noses where the criminal is still out and maybe even unidentified to this day?" Mr. Alderman said in a single breath. Agnes stared at him in shock, not knowing how to respond.

"Um, you guys wanna watch something else? I'm not into having these bad vibes during dinner time, alright?" Ms. Alderman interrupted. "So, you guys are having a high school musical play, uh?"  
"Yeah... Zane's playing Troy," Mason said.  
"Oh, really? What about you, Mason? Are you playing anyone?"  
"Ah, no, I'm... not much of an actor. Agnes is up for Gabriela, though."  
"No one has the part yet," Agnes mentioned.  
"Yeah, but you're totally gonna get it. She's a really great actress, Ms. Alderman."   
"Oh, yeah? Isn't that cool, Martin?" Ms. Alderman asked.  
"Yeah, for sure," Mr. Alderman said without turning his eyes away from the football game footage coming from the hologram. His other two kids stood quiet, not paying any attention to the conversation. The pre-teen girl, Grace wore VR set, while the little brother, Aden, played with his food.

The Aldermans were a really wealthy family. Not the kind of ones that ruled the town, no, not like the Hayes. But the kind of ones that were known by a big amount of people and by that, got a lot of favorable opportunities.

"You know, my mother used to love high school musical. I even had a friend from school who was named after Sharpay. You remember Sharpay, right, Martin? Unfortunately, she was taken away too soon. Her deathmate apparently died from dementia. Such a misfortune," Ms. Alderman's utterance brought down a feeling of tension to the room.  
"I'm sorry," Mason mumbled the last words spoken during the family dinner.

"Um, Agnes, why did your parents made you share your room with Grace? I thought you had the room to yourself," Mason had his body pushed against Agnes' bedroom's doorframe. He was already dressed in the pajamas he borrowed from her dad, which were too big for his 5 feet and 4 inches body.

"Oh, that. Yeah, my mom thought Aden was getting too feminine," Agnes' arms were crossed and she rolled her eyes as she said the word 'feminine'. "So she sent Grace to my room."  
"Oh. That's fucked up," Mason furrowed his eyebrows. "I'm sorry but sometimes your mom is kind of-"  
"A bitch?"  
"Yeah, I was going to say something less degrading, but I guess that works," he chuckled and traced the back of his head with his hand. 

"You know, she could've sent you to his room."  
"Why?"  
"So he could be more masculine," he jokingly deepened his voice and flexed his muscles.  
"Hey, being a lesbian isn't the same as being masculine."  
"But you're both."   
"I'm literally a femme!" Agnes punched him in the shoulder and her mouth turned into a grin.   
"Hey!" he caressed his shoulder with the palm of his hand as if it was hurting.  
"Yeah, go to sleep, drama boy," she said. He smirked, then turned to look at his phone screen. He looked up to the ceiling as if he was thinking about something. His smile only getting bigger.

"26 hours!"  
"What?" Agnes furrowed her eyebrows and a crooked grin appeared on her face.  
"My birthday? I'll find out who my deathmate is!" he turned both his hands into the air, hitting his phone on the doorframe.  
"Oh, yeah. Still a lot of time till then, huh? Go to bed," Agnes pushed his head and started closing the door.  
"Woohoo!" Mason goofily walked away through the corridor, jumping towards Aden's bedroom.

"Aden!" Mason screamed. "I'm finding out who my deathmate is tomorrow!" Mason stopped and raised an eyebrow. "Wait. No, not tomorrow. Friday!" he ran to hug him and Aden gave him a shocked look, feeling almost breathless from the tight hug. The little boy was sitting cross-legged on his bed working on a few school papers. Startled, he looked up to Mason, who mumbled a "sorry" after letting a paper about overpopulation studies fall from the bed.

"What's a deathmate?" Aden asked.  
Mason didn't listen to him. "Your school still has assignments on paper? What a nightmare. You know, it's so much better on the computer, I don't even have to read anything, the google lady does it for me!" Mason picked the papers up from the ground.  
"No, my school's weird. What's a deathmate, Mason?"  
"Oh, haven't you learned it yet?" Mason turned to look at the papers, but it was hard to focus on the numbers and letters. Instead, he decided to ask Aden himself. "What grade are you in?"  
"First grade."

"Well, then you'll probably study it next year in biology," he then noticed Aden's expectant face. "But... maybe I can teach you now?"   
Aden quickly nodded.   
"Ok. Uh, well," Mason tried to formulate the sentence in his head before saying it. "A deathmate is someone who will die at the same time as you, so, if you die, they die too, and if they die, you die."  
Aden's eyes widened.

"But you don't have to worry about that. It only happens when you're 17. Or like, near 17," Mason tried to relieve the little boy.  
"You turn 17 tomorrow!" Aden jumped in astound and put his hands on Mason's shoulder.  
"Yeah, it's when you're allowed to know who your deathmate is."  
"Oh," Aden took his hands off Mason and went back to his sitting position. "Why can't you know before that?"  
"I think your body is like, not developed enough. Something like that," Mason tried to explain, although he wasn't entirely sure of that information.  
Aden nodded, but his face showed confusion. "And what will you do once you know who your deathmate is?"

"Um," Mason hadn't thought about that yet. "I think I'll know at the time. Some people want to meet them, others just pretend they don't exist. Others fall in love, then marry each other and die together, some romantic Romeo and Juliet shit. Uh, I mean, stuff."  
Aden laughed.

Ms. Alderman knocked on the already wide-open door.   
"Aden, it's time to sleep. I'm sure Mason is tired too," she threw the teenager a gentle smile. "Oh, and you're letting him stay with your bed, you sleep on the floor. Have manners. Good night, boys," the woman closed the door and the boys went to brush their teeth.

"Can I have my pillow?" Aden stood with his socks on top of the mattress at the ground, holding his dinosaur printed pillow.  
"Oh, don't worry, I'll sleep on the floor," The words came muffled out of Mason's mouth, he was still brushing his teeth.  
"I didn't understand a thing you just said."

Mason ran to the bathroom to spit the toothpaste out. It was in the room beside Aden's. The cabinet was filled with luxury toiletries and a few band-aids. No antidepressants or Adderall.  
"I said you can sleep in your bed, I'll sleep in the mattress, don't worry," Mason came back to Aden's room.  
"Oh. Thanks, Mason," Aden gave him a timid smile and got inside his blanket.  
"No problem, buddy."

"I don't understand."   
A few minutes have passed, and both boys hadn't fallen asleep yet.   
"What do you not understand?"  
"Why do we have deathmates? And why can we only die together when we're 17?"  
"Aden, you're way too smart," Mason says with his eyes closed. The lights were already turned off. The only illumination coming from the street lights going through the room's half-open blinds. "Look, I don't know. It's always been this way. I don't think we learn that at school? Maybe scientists haven't figured it out yet," Mason pulls the blanket to cover his face. "Good night, Aden."

"Excuse me, Ms. Alderman. Have you seen my school jacket?" It was 7:49 in the morning. Mason was dressed in the clothes he wore the day before, except for the shirt, it was one of the clothing he had brought a time ago to practice dancing with Zane and Agnes and forgot it at Anges' house. A grey activewear tee from Nike that Martin Alderman bought him as a gift.

"God, stop being so polite. I'm annoyed already," Agnes walked down the staircase dressed in Mason's orange, purple, and white varsity jacket.

"Ay! Give it back! I have band practice before class."  
"Do you need a jacket to play guitar?" she raised an eyebrow.  
"Why do you even want it, anyway? It's fucking hot outside."  
"Why do you want it then?"  
"It's mine! And it ain't that hot at school."  
"Well, I can say the same."  
"No, it's not yours, dumbass."  
"Whatever, Mase, I look good in it. Go take your meds before you forget it."  
"Wait, do you have my meds?"  
"Yeah, mom said your dad left them at the letterbox before the flight."  
"Wait, really?" Mason quickly moved towards the front door.  
"It's not there anymore, idiot. My mom took it," Agnes exclaimed with her classic sarcastic tone, sending one hand up in the air.  
"Oh."

"Breakfast, everyone!" Ms. Alderman's voice went through the house along with the smell of ready-made scrambled eggs and vegan bacon. "I tried to make something more special since Mason's with us today. Oh, and Mason, your medicine is on the table, right there. Your dad left it here yesterday." With her oily spatula, she pointed out the medicine bottles on the kitchen table.  
"Special? Mom, this takes like 2 minutes to be done. It's literally called a ready-made."  
"Everything is a ready-made these days, sweetie."

Ms. Alderman brought the pan over to the table. The smoke from the food heated the place up even more.  
"Mason, can I braid your hair?" Grace sat beside him with a hair tie in hand.  
"Why don't you braid your sister's?"  
"She's annoying," the girl said.  
Agnes rolled her eyes at her.

Grace grabbed the right side of Mason's hair, divided by his hairline. "I'll teach Aden to do the other side," Aden was 6 and Grace, 13. A 7-year difference, but they still shared a closer bond than Grace with Agnes.  
"No, Grace. That's girl's stuff, don't teach him that," Ms. Alderman said.

Mason immediately sent a glance to Agnes, who was sat in front of him. They both thought the same thing but didn't need to speak up. Actually, they couldn't.  
"I know. Sorry, mom," Grace said.  
"Also, let go of Mason's hair. I know you're really talented, love, but now it's not time. Let's eat."

"Wait, are they dating?"   
"I thought she was with Zane?"   
"No doubt she stole his jacket just to look like they're dating."   
"What the fuck, I didn't know she had Stewart in her name?"   
"Wait, so she's cheating on Zane?"

The rumors flew by as Agnes walked through the academy's hallway. She wore Mason's varsity jacket with his last name, Stewart, on its back. The talk was usual, she didn't mind it that much. People were mostly just jealous of their boy-girl friendship that didn't end up in unrequited or requited romance. She did mind, though, the talks from the Mondays after the weekends she got so drunk, she'd hook up with guys without feeling a thing. No regret. No pleasure. Nothing. Just an empty mind, the way she wanted it to be on a Saturday night. After that, she couldn't remember a thing. Actually, she didn't want to remember anything. And it would be like those nights only existed through people's epilogues but not in her own head. And those talks were way more usual.

"How was practice?" Agnes hit the locker beside Mason's, purposely scaring him, who had his head almost inside of it.  
"Good. Normal."  
"Boo!" someone slammed their hands on Mason's shoulder from behind. It was Zane.  
"Aah! Fuck off!" Mason jokingly pushed him and Zane laughed.  
"Yo, how was your night, birthday boy?" Zane said.  
Agnes raised an eyebrow and started shaking her head behind Mason.  
"Not..." Zane tried to understand what Agnes meant by her gestures.  
"Tomorrow," Agnes mouthed.  
"Oh! Tomorrow! Of course! I obviously didn't completely mistake the days. Ha! I was just joking!" Zane chuckled. "Is the party still up for tomorrow?" 

"Yeah, of course. Oh, and you have to give me a ride to the hospital today."  
"Why?"  
"My birthday? Finding out who my deathmate is?"  
"Oh, so we're going there at midnight?"  
"Yeah, the sooner, the better. I'm just really excited."  
"Mase, check your phone," Agnes said.  
"What?"  
"Check your phone. I sent you something."  
Mason took his phone out of his pants' back pocket. He had just bought it, but the phone was released about 5 years ago.  
A text from 'Disney hoe' appeared on his lock screen.

"SEVEN HUNDRED DOLLARS?" Mason, in amazement, laid eyes on Agnes. "How the fuck did you get this much money?"  
"Are you kidding me? She's rich. She doesn't get money, she has money, it's different," Zane said in an unsurprised voice.  
"Okay, okay. But this time I actually got the money, alright? I've been doing people's math homework. 10 dollars per question."  
"Well, that's some smart shit. Why don't you ever do mine?" Zane said.  
"Are you paying?"  
"Of course not. Friends are supposed to do each other's homework. Especially when they're rich girls named Agnes."  
"The fuck am I supposed to do with this money?" Mason interrupted their casual argument.  
"If you don't want it, I do."  
"I don't know, maybe buy something for tomorrow? Hey, I gotta go. See you after class?" Agnes left with a notebook on her hands without waiting for an answer.  
"Use it to pay for the gas, you know it takes a while to get to the hospital," Zane said with a smirk and gave Mason a pad on the back, leaving for dance class.

It was 5 pm when Mason showed up by Zane's theater rehearsal. He was on the stage in his basketball uniform while sending glances at Connor Hayes, who sat by the bleachers with one leg over the other.   
Mason sat just behind him, hoping to get Zane's attention, while at the same time wishing Connor hadn't felt his presence. 

"Alright, that's it for today. Have a nice weekend, everyone!" the drama teacher said.  
Zane quickly jumped off the stage and ran towards Mason. He grabbed a washcloth on the way, putting it around his wet neck.  
"Nice show, Tucker," Connor stood up clapping.  
"Yeah, fuck off," Zane then turned to look at Mason. "Hey, I'mma just go get changed, meet me by the car, ok?" Zane handed him his keys and put the towel over his face, walking back to the stage.  
"A bit rude, your boy, huh?"  
"Fuck off, Connor."

"So, which hospital are we heading to?" Zane had his hands on the steering wheel. The sky was already dark with nothing seen, aside from the moon. The road was just as empty. The boys had already passed by a café and were on their way to finding out who Mason's deathmate was. 

"The one your mom works at, obviously."  
"You think she's gonna make any difference?"   
"I just wanna say hi to her. And... Maybe she can help me take the test without my dad being here," Mason cracked a grin.   
"Yeah, maybe."  
"Just maybe."  
"You're gonna be the one that saves me..." Zane started singing cheerfully.

"What's with you and these old ass songs?" Mason joked.  
"What do you mean? It's a fucking classic! Ain't you the one into music? Come on, sing with me," Zane took one hand off the wheel and slightly pushed Mason's arm.  
"And after all... You're my Wonderwall!" They both screamed with their full lungs to the quiet street. With the car windows open, they had their hair blown out by the night's cold wind.  
"I said maybe! You're gonna be the one that saves me!" They were the music. The melody, the rhythm, the harmony. Altogether. It's in their souls. To be free and eternal. Just two teenage boys creating memories for the gold teenage years. Nothing could stop them now.  
Except for a phone call.

"What the fuck?" Mason looked at his phone screen.  
"Who is it?"  
"My mom," Mason didn't take his eyes away from his phone. And neither did he answer it.  
"Well, what you waiting for? Pick it up! She hasn't called in ages!"   
"Exactly! Why would I talk to her now?" Mason finally turned his face towards the other boy. He furrowed his brows in exasperation.  
"Because she's your mom? Come on it won't hurt to just click the button, Mase. You'll regret this if you don't."  
Mason looked forsaken but he knew in his gut his best friend was right.  
"Ah, fuck it," Mason tapped the green button.

"Hi, hi baby," her voice was fragile, almost as if it would break apart if given it a finger-flick.  
"Hey, mom," Mason tried to keep a tough figure, but his voice cracked. He looked at Zane as though he was in need of his help.   
"Um, happy birthday, my boy," her sobs could fill the boys' car. "You're getting old, huh? I'm sorry I haven't called before Mason, I really am. Please believe me, will you, kid? Mom loves you. I want you to know that. I'm proud of you, okay? I'm sorry, baby."  
Mason kept silent throughout the entire speech. A single tear almost fell off his eye, blurring his vision.  
"Please forgive me, Mason. I love you so-"  
Mason turned off the phone and quickly put it back inside his pockets.  
"What the-" 

"I just- I can't do it," Mason almost screamed. Folding his hands around his legs and putting his head between the knees, he trembled in his seat.  
"Hey, it's okay. It's okay, Mason," Zane parked the car. They had arrived. He took his seat belt off and went to hug his friend. He cared for Mason and Mason cared for him. Always. Zane caressed his head and grabbed his hand. "It's okay." Mason turned to eye him. His face was all red and his nose was like a barrier impeding the tears from the left side of his face to meet the tears from the right side. Zane looked right into his eyes. He wanted Mason to know he was there for him. "Everything's gonna be alright."  
Zane sat back in his seat, with his hand still on Mason's. "Are you okay? Are we good to go?"   
Mason nodded.

"Okay, come on," Zane opened the door. "Oh, wait. Can you open that thing?" Zane pointed at the glove compartment. Mason did so.   
"Can you get that mustache for me?"  
"That what?" Mason's eyes widened.  
"The mustache. It's right there."  
"Why the fuck do you have a fake mustache in your car?"  
"From the Peter Pan musical on freshman year! You know I played Captain Hook!" Zane put his fake mustache on and did a little twist on it.  
"And you just kept it?"  
"Yeah. Just in case I need it," Zane said in a 'duh' tone.  
"Just in case?" Mason raised his eyebrow. "Why would you need it now?"  
"Stop asking questions, I know what I'm doing. Come on," Zane got out of the car, followed by Mason.   
They entered the hospital, laying eyes at the medical secretary. Zane walked towards her, resting his elbows on the counter. Mason did the same. The place was empty, having only a person sitting in the waiting area, and a staff member working on the vending machine. 

"Hey, mom," Zane said.  
The woman still had her eyes set on the computer in front of her, it took Sharon Zane's voice for her to notice the boys.  
"Um, hey! Wow, what are you doing here? Hey, Mason!" she was surprised by the boys' visit this late at night. "Um, honey what's that on your face?" Sharon pointed at the mustache.  
"Just grew it. It's Mason's birthday."

"Yes, right, you told me! Come over here, baby," she grinned at Mason with open arms. The boy went behind the counter to hug her. "Happy birthday, my boy!" she hugged him so tightly, Mason found himself breathless. She stopped after a while, only leaving an arm around his neck, making him already miss the tight hug.  
"So, you're here to get his deathmate test?"  
"Yeah," The boys said in unison. Zane kept playing with his hands.  
"Well, you know you need a parent with you to do that, right?"  
"Yeah, so, I was hoping you could pretend to be my mom?" Mason begged with puppy dog eyes.  
Sharon let go of the boy, placing her hands on the counter.   
"Mason, you're white."

"Um, yeah, but it's not like it's not true."  
"That you're white?" Zane seemed to be confused.  
"No, dumbass, that Sharon's my mom!" Mason looked back at the woman. "I mean, I'm like your... adopted son, you know?"

Sharon smiled. She knew it was true and she was honored to hear it. "Yeah, well, I still can't go cause I have to work, alright? So, you boys find a way. I'll tell the doctor to talk to you. Oh, wait, lemme get you this thing," she took a card from the counter and wrote her signature in it. Then handed it to Mason. "Tell them I'm letting you get in without a parent, okay? Now sit there, they will call you in a second. I'm filling your data now, alright?" She looked at Mason. The boys went to sit in the waiting area. 

"How do I look?" Zane posed for Mason.  
"Why did you bring a mustache?"  
"How do I look?" Zane persisted.   
"Like a kid with a fake mustache on."  
"Fuck. If they think I'm 21, maybe they'll let you take the test!"  
"They'll never think you're 21," Mason laughed.  
"I already have the fake ID lenses!" Zane pointed at his eyes.  
A man in a white coat came from the hallway with a clipboard in hand. "Mason Stewart?"   
"Here we go!" Zane yelled, jumping alongside Mason towards the doctor.

The room was almost blinding, filled with white equipment, white walls, and white furniture. The boys had to blink substantially to adjust to the ambient's lighting.

"So, you're here for your deathmate test, right? I'm Dr. Owens," he held out his hand for a handshake with both boys. "I heard you didn't come with a parent?" 

Zane rushed to reply, "They're dead."   
Mason looked at him bewildered.  
Dr. Owens was surprised. "Oh, I'm so sorry."

"No, it's okay. They died a few years ago. I'm his brother. He's, um, adopted. I've taken care of him since our parents' car accident."  
"A car accident?" the man asked.   
"Oh, yes, our family doesn't have much money to afford a self-driving car." Zane didn't lie on that bit. "It had rained and they didn't notice how wet the road was." 

Mason was impressed with his friend's story, but not like he didn't do that often.  
"And how old are you, Sir?" Dr. Owens asked Zane.  
"Just turned 22. I even grew a mustache, see?" Zane replied confidently. Mason was almost about to burst into laughter.  
"Sure. Okay, um, may I have an eye scan on you?" The doctor opened a drawer in his desk to take out the eye scanner device.  
"Yes, of course," Zane said.  
"I meant him," Dr. Owens smiled.  
"Oh. Sure," Mason finally spoke.

The doctor pressed the device against Mason's eyes, taking it off in 2 seconds. The boy's face and information appeared on the device's screen.  
"Mason Devlin Stewart. Born April 28th, 2040," he read out loud. "Um, your birthday is tomorrow, Sir."   
"It's already past midnight," Mason said.  
"Oh. You're really excited, huh?" the doctor stood up. "Come over here."

He led them to a small room, standing by the door frame. "So, I'm going to take your blood test, then you'll head to the room beside this one, right here," he pointed it out using his right arm. "There's a screen in that room in which your deathmate's name and photo will appear. Do you have any questions?"   
Mason shook his head. 

"Okay," the man entered the room. "Sit here, please," he pointed at the white chair with a metal armrest tray beside it.  
Mason sat on it and extended his arm on the tray. Zane stood by him and the doctor put a tight band around Mason's upper arm. Mason already squeezed his eyes in agony. The doctor then cleaned his skin with an antiseptic wipe. Mason's heart rate increased, as well as his breathing.   
"This might hurt a little."  
Mason was filled with dread just by looking at the needle.  
"Uh, Zane, can you hold my hand?"  
Zane laughed. "Don't tell me you're afraid of needles," he then went to hold his hand.  
"I'm afraid of needles." 

Mason felt a cold scratching sensation as the needle went in. He squeezed Zane's hand tightly.  
"Think happy things," Zane said. "Like when the coke bottle exploded in the kitchen and hit the ceiling fan and everything got wet."  
"That's not happy," Mason said in pain.  
"Yes, it is. It's funny."

The doctor removed the needle, cleaning Mason's arm with another wipe.   
"I'm putting this cotton pad on it, keep holding it tight against your arm," he said.  
Mason let go of Zane's hand and pressed the cotton pad against his arm. "You can go to the room next door now. Your deathmate will appear on the screen in a few minutes."  
"Okay. Thank you, Sir," Mason said.  
"Thank you," Zane said, walking out of the room with Mason.

The room they arrived in was dark, illuminated only by the lighting of the screen that didn't show anything, but a dark shade of blue. The boys sat on the chairs against the wall. "Does it hurt?" Zane asked.

"A little. Just bothers me."  
A one minute count down arose on the screen.   
"Hey, yo," Zane tapped on Mason's shoulder, pointing at the screen. "What can we do in one minute?"  
"Sing the happy birthday song!" Mason got up his seat.

"That lasts 10 seconds."  
"Then, we can sing the happy birthday song... ten times!" Mason raised his hands in the air. Already forgetting to keep the cotton pad against his arm.  
"There are 60 seconds in a minute, Mason."  
"Oh, right. Then 6 times. 4 now," Mason said as the countdown was at 42 seconds.

"Okay, come on," Zane stood up.  
"Happy birthday to you!" they screamed. "Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, dear Mason! Happy birthday to you!" They sang it another two times. Now with Zane beatboxing to Mason's singing.  
"Count down!" Zane said.  
"Seven! Six! Five! Four! Three! Two! One!"  
Mason closed his eyes and put his hands over it, he was too nervous to finally see it.  
"Um, Mason."  
"Who is it?" he said with his eyes closed.  
"Uh, please open your eyes."

Mason took his hands off his face, but wish he never did.   
Bryan Nakada Miller, the screen revealed, along with a photo of the criminal.


	2. Chapter 2

"No fucking way," Mason stared at the screen. It felt like time had stopped. Like he was a character in a movie moving in slow motion while the surroundings continued in its normal speed. "That can't be him, right?"  
Zane didn't know what to say. It didn't feel real.

"I mean, Nakada? That's an Asian name. Japanese, right? And Bryan's black," Mason tried to find a way to prove the boy on the screen wasn't the Bryan Miller they constantly saw on the news. The infamous teenager who's been sought by the police for over 6 months. 

"Um, actually, no. He's blasian," Zane said. He didn't want to believe it either, yet he knew it was the truth. His best friend was Bryan Miller's deathmate.

"What?"  
"Uh, Black," he lifted his right hand up. "Asian," he lifted his left one up. "Boom," he clapped them together. "Blasian," Zane tried to make a joke out of the situation, even though it wasn't the right time for humor.

"I mean, look at him. That's Bryan Miller! You know it is!" Zane pointed at the screen. A paper was being printed from a device below the screen. Zane took it. 

"See? It's him," Zane almost pressed the certificate against Mason's face. Although it was an old picture, Bryan Miller's features were distinctly clear.

"That's a terible photo, you can't see shit!" Mason ripped off the paper from his hand and crushed it. Zane stepped back, although he'd seen his friend like this before.

"Bryan Miller, that's such a common name, right? There might be another blasian kid named Bryan Nakada Miller. It could be anyone," Mason didn't want to believe it.

"Mason," Zane put his hands on Mason's shoulders. "You know it's him."

Mason pushed him with both his hands. "You don't understand! Zane, everyone wants him dead. I'm going to fucking die!" his eyes begged for help, but there was no way he could be saved from this. He threw his arms in the air, the paper still crushed in his hand, Mason held it with a tight grip. His face was red and hot, a combination of anger and sadness.   
"I'm going to fucking die," he said it again, this time in a calmer and almost inaudible voice.

Mason dropped to the ground, sitting against the wall. Zane kneeled in front of him.  
"I can't go through this, Zane. What the fuck am I gonna do?" a flood of tears gushed down his red cheeks.

Zane sat beside him, putting his arm around the boy's neck. Mason rested his head on his friend's shoulder.  
"We'll find a way. I'm sure we will." Zane said.

Mason looked right into his eyes. "I don't think this is going to end up really well, Zane. God, I'm so fucked up," he turned to place his head between his knees. 

Zane slid closer to him. "Hey, look on the bright side. No one's found him in, like, 6 months!"   
"Yeah, but they will. They'll find him and I'm gonna die. I should start making the playlist for my funeral."  
"No, no, no. You're not gonna die! I won't let you."  
"Wow, thanks. That helps a lot!" Mason joked, but was glad to have his friend there by his side. Zane smiled and messed up Mason's curly hair.

"Hey!" Mason tried to fix it.  
"You're going to be okay," Zane said.  
"You think so?"  
"Well, I'm no psychic, but I hope so."  
"I hope so too," the boy rested his head on Zane's shoulder once again.

Zane parked the car at his house. Inside, a few lights were still on. Mason had slept the entire trip. He had, at last, gotten a little peace that night. 

"Mason, wake up."  
The boy didn't respond.  
Zane didn't hesitate to slap his forehead.

"What the fuck?" Mason opened his eyes, immediately rubbing them.   
"We're home. Let's go."

The Tucker and Stewart family shared a row house with 3 floors and a basement The Stewarts owned only the upper floor, as their family consisted of solely Mason and his father. It was a lousy neighborhood with numerous trees around.

Zane opened the door. A dog came running towards them with his tongue out.  
"Woody!" Mason yelled, quickly sitting on the floor to pet the golden retriever as Zane closed the door.

"Shut up, Mason, Ti's asleep," Zane smacked the deathmate certificate on Mason's head. The boy rubbed his hand against the dog's belly.

"No, I'm not," the soft voice came from the kitchen. The little girl's hands were covered in blue dough.

"What, why aren't you in bed?" Zane rushed through his words.  
"It's not a school night. We were baking," Tiana licked the dough off her hands.  
"Baking? At, like, 2 am?"  
"Yeah! Mom said it was an emergency. For Mason's birthday."

"Me? What about me?" Mason quickly got up. "Oh, hey, Tiana. Did you take good care of Woody?"  
"Yeah, definitely," she walked towards him, petting the dog's head. "Your dad should travel more often."  
Mason nervously laughed.

"Oh, hey, boys," Kael came from the kitchen, wiping his hands with a towel cloth. "Sorry, I was washing the dishes. Okay, so, we just made Mason a cake, it's still in the oven, do you wanna wait to eat it tonight? Or is it too late? Y'all tired? Maybe we could just eat it in the morning or... You're having a party later, right? You wanna save it for the party?" Zane's stepdad said in a rush.

"Uh, yeah, no, we can, we can just eat it in the morning. That's good, yeah," Mason, still a bit sleepy, had trouble comprehending what the man said. "Thank you."

Kael hugged him. "Happy birthday, kid."  
As tired as Mason was to pay attention to what was happening, he felt belonged. As if that was the family he would come home everyday to. He couldn't be more grateful.

Since he got there, he didn't think once about what had happened in the hospital. 

"Alright, uh, Tiana, go to sleep. Your mom's getting here soon and I don't think she'll be so nice with me if you're not in bed," Kael pointed to the stairs.

"What about them?" the girl grunted, pointing her thumb at the boys, who laughed.  
"I'm sure they're going to sleep soon, aren't they?" he raised an eyebrow at them.

"Yeah, sure," Zane said sarcastically and smirked at his sister. She rolled her eyes and went upstairs.  
"So?"   
"Okay, yeah, we're going," Zane quickly climbed the stairs with Mason slapping his butt to make him move faster.

"So, what are we gonna do?" Zane said as he closed the door. Mason went straight to Zane's wardrobe to find himself some clothes to sleep in. 

"What do you mean?" Mason grabbed a Washington Wizards blue jersey.

"About Bryan? How are we gonna find him?" Zane took his shoes off. Only then Mason was reminded of the chaos he had to deal with. Took him a while to form up a full sentence on his head.  
"Find him? What the hell, are you insane? Why do you wanna find him?" Mason was in the middle of taking his shirt off, it hanging around his neck.

"Uh, to talk? We can figure a way out of this?" Zane seemed to earnestly believe in the plan he prepared to explain.

"To talk? To Bryan Miller?" Mason laughed. Then quickly put on the basketball jersey to cover up his back pimples, even though no one could really see it. "No one's found him in 6 months and you think you're gonna find him?"

"Uh, yeah. I have a plan," Zane, already dressed in his sleepwear, jumped to his bed, getting shelter inside the blankets. "Hop in."

"Hold on, I still need some shorts," Mason stood in his boxer briefs as Zane immediately threw him a swimming trunk laid on the bedside cabinet. "Since when are you good at making plans?" Mason put his right foot through the shorts, then his left one.

"Since always?" Zane made room for Mason to lay on the bed. "Come on, hear me out."  
"I'm all ears."   
"Okay, well, I'm serious," he held Mason's head on his hands. "So, listen. To. Me," he shook it like a bartender making a cocktail.  
Mason could smell the excitement off Zane's face if excitement had a smell. It was mostly his sweat. 

"Here's the plan. We find someone that was friends with Bryan, and then they help us find him," Zane's hands were thrown in the air, and his face showed an open-mouthed smile.

Mason waited for him to continue the sentence but he didn't.  
"That's it?"  
"Yes?"  
Mason had a pause to think.  
"That's the shittiest plan I've ever heard."

"What? No, it's not, it's a great plan, come on," Zane rushed through his words.  
Mason didn't say anything. Zane raised his eyebrows.  
"I thought about it in the car, while you were sleeping. What other plan have you thought of?"  
"None."  
"Well, then. It's my plan we're going with."

"I still don't understand why you want to find him."  
"Oh. Right, so," excitements rose upon his face again. "Bryan is running from the police so they don't kill him, right? So, wherever he is, it can't be safer than staying at your house."

"YOU WANT HIM TO HIDE AT MY HOUSE?" Mason was perplexed. The plan couldn't get any worse. "Are you insane? You want a criminal inside my house, wow, that's such a great idea."   
"No, look, no one's gonna get suspicious of it. I mean, why would a random teenager have a criminal hiding inside their house who could potentially kill him? Makes no sense."  
"Exactly? It makes no sense!"  
"Yeah, but he can't kill you unless he wanted to kill himself."  
"Um, yeah, but he could chop my legs off, or whatever."  
"Why would he do that?"  
"I don't know, he's the criminal, ask him."

"Well, it's still a great plan. You have him at your house, so you have the power over him, you're basically controlling his death, you get it?" Zane said.

Mason got immersed in his thoughts.  
"We find him. He's obviously gonna accept it, I mean, easy shelter, right? He would trust you. Since you don't wanna die, you wouldn't turn him in, or something like that," Zane continued.

"Okay. Well, yeah, it makes sense." Mason gave him a right-sided smile. "But how am I gonna hide him in my apartment? It only has two rooms! You can't just hide a person in there! Like, without my dad knowing."

"Well, there's an attic upstairs."  
"There's an attic? I didn't know we had an attic?"   
"I mean, it's probably just full of dirt and spider webs but it's a place we can hide him. Wanna go check it out?" Even though it was almost 3 in the morning, Zane still had the energy to run a marathon.

"What, now?" Mason snapped.  
Zane nodded in the most relaxed way. "What, no, I'm not going there now, you just said there were spiders!" Mason's voice tone was loud enough to wake everyone in the building up.

"You just agreed to meet up with a criminal and now you're afraid of spiders? Okay. We can go there tomorrow then." Zane put a hand on his shoulder.  
Mason felt more relieved.  
"But we still need to, you know," Zane clicked his tongue, "find him first."  
"Right. So what do we do?" Mason turned his face towards Zane's.

"Um, we can look through his social media? See if we can find someone from our school," Zane pulled his laptop from the bedside table. It was black with a few skateboard and basketball vinyl stickers. 

"He has social media?"  
"He's not active, but yeah."  
"Oh. Okay, search him up," Mason pointed his chin towards the laptop.

'Bryan Miller', Zane typed in on Google.  
Approximately 75,900,000 results came up in a matter of 0,44 seconds, the screen showed.

The first website shown was his Wikipedia page, which already presented he was 17, along with his full name, Bryan Nakada Miller.

The website below displayed a news article titled 'Bryan Miller, murderer of 9, has not been yet found.' Another article indicated the act of vandalism on President Hayes' statue, possibly committed by the now 17-year-old boy.

"Well, these are... nice," Zane said as he read the news' titles.  
"I'm so fucked," Mason was paralyzed.

"At least they haven't found him yet! That's good news! Well... at least for you." Zane then thought if it felt right to say that.  
"Is it bad that I want him alive?" Mason looked at his friend, his eyes no longer held the brightness they did before.  
"What? No, it's for your own life's sake!"

"But he's killed nine people, Zane! Nine! Maybe I should just kill myself and get this over with," Mason tried not to make eye contact.  
"What the... No, no, no. Look, we're gonna find him, then, I don't know, we lock him up in the attic and bring him food sometimes," Zane's shoulders danced along with his glowing eyes.  
"So, homemade jail?"  
"Exactly!"  
"Okay, yeah," Mason clicked his tongue. "I hate that I like your idea."

Zane grew a huge smile and mumbled a 'yes!' under his breath.  
Mason took the laptop from Zane's lap and clicked on the first link he found of Bryan's social media.

He had a total of 11 posts. He looked like the kind of guy that had a lot of friends in school, even his photos said that, but he'd apparently been losing followers in the past few months.

His last post was from a year ago. An old picture of him and his father captioned 'miss you, old man'.

"So, you wanna go through his followers, see if there's anyone we know?" Zane asked, but it felt more like an order.  
Mason clicked on his follower count, the app already listing no one he followed was following him. Then, he went through the accounts he followed, but all the people they followed in common were celebrities, mostly actors and athletes.  
"No one," Mason said in a quiet voice.  
Zane then put the laptop back on his lap and clicked on the first person Bryan followed.

"Let's check it manually," Zane tried to sound professional.   
"So we're just gonna click on every person he follows and see if we know them?"  
"Yeah," Zane felt certain.  
Bryan followed 1,376 accounts.

The first account they ran into was from a boy who went to West Springfield High School, where Bryan went to before quitting on his freshman year. Neither Mason nor Zane knew the guy, so they continued their search until finding someone they knew.

It was 5:47 am when they got into Shay Martínez's account.   
"Hey, check her out, she's in a photo with him," Zane said.  
Mason was barely able to keep his eyes open.

"Mason, wake up, she goes to our school!" Zane tried shaking Mason's body to wake him up, then slapped his face.  
"Can you stop slapping my face? I'm awake!" Mason said, but was almost falling back asleep.

"She looks so different now, her hair's pink! I think I've seen her. Do you know her?"  
"Who?" Mason was unaware of what was going on.  
"Shay Martínez. Pink hair. Do you know her?"  
"Uh, yeah," Mason sounded like a drunk person with his eyes semi-open.

"Yeah? You think she's coming to your party tomorrow?" Zane was all enthusiastic, even though he hadn't slept in about 21 hours.  
"Let me sleep!" Mason prolonged the word 'sleep' and put the pillow over his head.  
Zane rolled his eyes and groaned. 

"Okay. I'll let you sleep," Zane proceeded to navigate through his social media.   
"Did you know that the dinosaur noises from Jurassic Park are from tortoises having sex?"  
Mason hit his pillow on Zane's face.  
"Go the fuck to sleep, Zane!"

"Are Zane and Mason here?" Agnes stood by the doorframe. She had just parked in front of the Tuckers' house. It smelled like vinegar and roasted chicken. 

"Um, I think they're still asleep, they've had a bit of a long night. You can come in if you want to, sweetheart," Ms. Tucker said. She wore a dark blue apron which had a few sauce stains on it. "Have you eaten?" Ms. Tucker made a gesture for her to come inside.

"Uh, actually yes," Agnes' family would never let her miss a Saturday or a Sunday lunch if it wasn't critically necessary. "But thank you. Can I go upstairs? See if I can wake them up?"   
Sharon closed the door behind her.  
"Yeah, sure. Tell them lunch is almost ready."

Agnes found them both heavily asleep as she opened the door. The bedsheets were on the floor and the fan's wind dried Mason's drool from his half-open mouth. Zane slept on his back with his legs stretched out, his arms up beyond his head, while Mason was in an almost upside-down position. 

Agnes ran and jumped upon their bodies.   
"God, you scared the shit outta me." Zane woke up and moved her to the side.  
"How the fuck are y'all still sleeping? It's 2 pm." Agnes stretched her arms between the boys. "Mason?"

"What, what are you doing here?" he winked rapidly as trying to adjust to the lighting.

"Um, it's your birthday, dude. Happy birthday!" she gave him a little punch on the chest.

"Oh, fuck. Right," Mason sat on the bed and accommodated himself, massaging where Agnes had hit him at.

"So, did you take the deathmate test?"

Zane turned his face towards Mason.  
Shit.  
They kept their eyebrow-to-eyebrow starring game going on, waiting for one of them to finally speak up.   
Agnes looked from one boy to another, trying to decode what was going on.

"He's Bryan Miller's deathmate." Zane cut the tension.

"Are you kidding me?" Agnes' face lit up in doubt. "Like, THE Bryan Miller?"

"Yes," Mason said under his breath, facing the bedsheets. 

"Holy shit! You're so fucked!" she bit her lips.   
Zane raised his eyebrows in agreement.  
"What are we gonna do now?" Agnes asked.

"So," Zane slid closer to Agnes and cleared his throat. "We've done this search yesterday and we found this girl who goes to our school that was friends with Bryan. We spent the entire night on that."

"Oh, so this is what y'all were doing last night. Who's the girl?"

"Shay Martínez. Mason said she knows her."   
"I did?" Mason murmured.  
Zane pulled his phone and searched for a picture of Shay.

"Oh, yes, I do know her. She's in my band class," Mason said.  
Zane showed the photo to Agnes.  
"She's..."  
"Hot." Zane completed.  
Agnes, astonished, punched the boy's shoulder.  
"Hey, I was just finishing your sentence!" Zane screamed.  
"I wasn't gonna say that."  
Mason rolled his eyes at them.  
"Yeah, what were you gonna say?" Zane asked.  
"That she's... cute."  
"By that you mean hot."   
"Whatever."

"Now, what do you want with her?" she asked.  
"So we can talk to her and see if she knows where Bryan is."  
"Before you say anything, I told him it was a bad idea," Mason pointed his hand at Zane.

"Why do you want to find Bryan? He's a fucking serial killer, Zane," Agnes' eyebrows forced together into a quizzical frown.  
"Well, yeah, but he's also running for his life so what better guard than his own deathmate?"  
"What?" Agnes couldn't make out a word he just said.

"Mason wants to stay alive and I'm sure Bryan wants to stay alive as well, so Mason wouldn't betray him to the police since that would cause him his own death," Zane tried to sound as polite as possible, making him feel like a lawyer in court.  
Mason massaged his forehead with closed eyes.

"So... you want to find Bryan... and... protect him?"   
"Exactly. We can have him stay at our attic, we just gotta find him and convince him to stay here."  
"Y'all have an attic? How come you never took me there?"  
"I didn't know about this either!" Mason whispered.  
"Yeah, it's just a little dirty."  
"With spiders!" Mason wiggled his fingers as if telling a horror story.

"And that girl... Shay. She's supposed to help you find him?"  
"Yeah, I mean, she's in a photo with him. They might have been close."  
"Zane wants to talk to her today. At the party." Mason said.  
"Okay. That's... a good idea. So, is that all?"  
The boys nodded.

"Alright. I need y'all to help me take this from the car. Your birthday present."  
"But... you already got me those seven hundred bucks?" Mason said.  
"Um, well, yeah, it's for the party. Just a few beverages." Agnes got up from the bed and adjusted her pants. Then grabbed Mason's hands, who made no effort in moving, to pull him out of bed. Zane jumped to the other side, landing on the floor. The kids proceeded to get out of the apartment.

"So, have you told your dad yet?" Agnes placed a six-pack of beer on Mason's kitchen countertop.  
"About Bryan?" Mason placed another pack on the kitchen table.  
"Yeah," Agnes sat on the counter, followed by Zane sitting beside her.  
"Um, he hasn't called yet." Mason tried not to make eye contact and started taking the beer bottles off the package.  
"Why don't you call him?" Zane got up from the counter and helped Mason put the beer bottles in the fridge.  
"I don't wanna bother him, he's probably busy anyway."  
Agnes questioned Mason's sudden melancholy, but didn't say anything about it.

"So, you guys wanna check the attic out?" Agnes said.  
"Um, yeah, how do we get there?" Mason closed the fridge.  
"There's probably a set of pull down stairs somewhere."

"It's locked," Agnes checked the attic's ceiling access door. Zane and Mason held her legs up so she could reach it.  
"You sure?" Mason's arms and legs shaked.  
"What if we try to break it?" Zane suggested.  
"Are you insane?" Agnes got down to the floor.  
"What? No one will even notice!"

"Why don't you ask your mom for the keys?" Mason interfered.  
"Aren't they supposed to be with your dad?"  
"The house is on her name, so..."  
"If we ask her, she'll get suspicious!"   
"No, she won't. What is she gonna think? That you're hiding a serial killer in there?"  
"Maybe?" Zane said before Agnes could finish her sentence.

"Shit, we forgot to ask your mom back for the keys." Mason said. The teenagers laid on Zane's bed after lunch in a relaxing ambiance. The window blinds were closed. Zane slept with his hands placed over his stomach. Agnes strived to learn more about Bryan Miller through her phone.

"Is anyone awake?"  
"No," Agnes said.  
"Come on, the party starts in a few hours," Mason sat on the bed.  
"You wanna go on the attic now? It's almost dark."  
"Well, that's cause y'all slept the whole afternoon."  
"Hey, it was only, like, two hours, and I'm awake now."

"Then let's go. Wake Zane up," Mason stood up.  
"Seriously? Can't we just... leave it for tomorrow?"   
Mason looked her up and down. Then embraced his arms across her and dragged her out of bed.  
"Hey, hey, what are you doing?"  
"Come on, you need some energy."  
"What about Zane?"  
"I'mma just get you an energy drink. You thirsty?"

Mason and Agnes climbed up to Mason's floor. Mason ran towards the fridge and got three cans of energy drink. Then handed Agnes one. She drank it as if she hadn't had any liquid in a week.  
"Woah, you good?" Mason drank his and struggled when trying to put the other can on his pants' pocket. It didn't fit.  
"Give me that," Agnes took the can and put it in on her cotton handbag.

"So... is everything okay with your dad?" Agnes took the opportunity of being just the two of them alone to engage in a more serious conversation.  
"Uh, yeah, why?" Mason was uncomfortable with the question.  
"Why hasn't he called?" Agnes asked.  
Mason looked up at her.   
"He's just busy," he took another sip of his drink.

"Are you gonna tell him about Bryan?"  
Another sip.  
"What do you think he's gonna do?" Mason said.  
Agnes furrowed her brows.  
"What do you mean?"  
"I mean, all this time he's been looking for Bryan, that's his damn job. Everything's centered around him now, you know?"  
"Well, it's not just Bryan, there are other fugitives out there..."  
"Yeah, but I mean, he's worth five hundred thousand dollars! He's all my dad cares about. What about when he finds out I'm his deathmate, then what?"  
"What do you mean, Mason?"  
"What if he turns me in?"  
"He's not gonna turn you in, dude, are you insane? You're his son."  
"Alright, but what if one of his colleagues finds out? They aren't his friends. I wouldn't doubt they'd turn me in."

"Mason, we don't even know if turning you in is even a possibility. Who they want is Bryan. You need to relax, okay? Maybe we should focus on finding Bryan before they do." Agnes put her right hand on Mason's shoulder and with her left, she wiped a single tear off his face.

"How are we even gonna do that?" Mason put her hand away. "My dad's team has been searching him for months and they haven't gotten a single clue about where he's hiding. You think we, a bunch of kids, are gonna be the ones to find Bryan? I'm so ending up dead," he looked directly into Agnes' eyes.  
"Look, we're talking to Shay today and we'll see if we can get a clue. None of your dad's guys knew him, but Shay did. That might get us a bit closer to finding him."

Zane kicked the door open.  
"Why did nobody wake me up? People are almost arriving and I haven't even showered yet, you know how much time I take to get ready!" he went up to them and grabbed a RedBull on the way.  
Mason and Agnes giggled.

Zane stood closer to Mason and looked right into his eyes, "Wait, have you been crying? Agnes, what did you do to him?"  
"He thinks he's gonna die," she grabbed Zane's drink and took a sip.  
"I am gonna die!" Mason said.  
"Well, yeah, sometime, but not now. We're going to find Bryan, okay? Zane tell him we'll find Bryan." Agnes took another sip.

Zane took his can back from Agnes' hands, "Yeah, of course we'll find him. When has a plan of mine ever gone wrong?"  
"Are you serious?" Agnes tried to hold her laughter.  
"No, no, come on. They work, okay? Y'all just trying to be funny but you know I always make the best plans."

Agnes rolled her eyes, "Weren't you going to take a bath? Go take your bath."  
Zane smirked and turned around, then Agnes pushed him towards the front door.  
"Alright, I'mma go get ready now!" Mason ran to his bedroom.

"Can you borrow me some clothes?" Agnes screamed from the kitchen.  
"You already look good." Mason took a glance at Agnes from outside his bedroom's door.  
"You're just saying that cause you don't want me taking your clothes. I swear I didn't mean to lose your coat that time, I didn't know it would be this hot at night!"  
"Whatever, Agnes, I'm not borrowing you anything!"

The music was loud enough to be heard from another block. Some people screamed and others whispered in each other's ears. A few people were already tipsy. There were beer bottles on the floor and most lights were turned off. Mason, Agnes and Zane sat on Mr. Stewarts' bed, the quietest place in the apartment.

"Shay posted this about 30 minutes ago, she's probably coming to the party, right?" Agnes showed the boys her recent post, where she and a few other girls stood in the backseat of a car with bottles in hand.

"Ooh, were you stalking her?" Zane joked.  
"Ah, shut up! I just wanted to know if she was coming."  
"You think she's gotten here yet?" Mason threw a tennis ball to the ceiling while being laid on the bed.  
"Wanna look through the apartment? See if we can find her?" Zane proposed, the humorous tone still in his voice.

"Yeah, okay. We can split up. I'm heading downstairs. You guys... Do whatever." Agnes got up and unlocked the door.  
"Oh, 'cause you wanna be alone with her, huh?" Zane said.  
"Yeah. You guys ruin my image," she left the room with a trail of laughter, leaving the boys alone to discuss.

"So... You can look through the basement and I stay up here?" Mason stood up, fidgeting with the green ball.  
"Why do I have to go to the basement?"  
"Cause it's your basement," he handed out his hand for Zane.  
"Well, there are few of your stuff in there too," he pulled Mason's arm.  
"Yeah, but I'm not in the mood to go all the way downstairs, so do me this favor. It's my birthday anyway," Mason looked up to Zane with puppy dog eyes.  
Zane couldn't help but to accept his friend's offer.

Mason's phone vibrated in his pocket. It was Zane.  
"What is it?" he screamed over the loud noise.  
"Um, can you come to the basement, please?" Zane said.  
"Did you find Shay?"  
"No, it's something else. Just come here, man." he hung up.

Mason rushed down the stairs, wondering what it could be. He stumbled upon a few people on the way, some wished him a happy birthday and others were already too drunk to even care. Only took him a few seconds to get to Zane. The boy watched over a crowd behind a pillar, as if trying to be unnoticed. 

"What is it?" Mason questioned in a whisper.  
"Look who's here," Zane pointed his head at the blond-haired boy.  
Connor Hayes sat in a fauteuil, a bottle in his hand. His eyes looked weary. His so-called perfect hair was messy and unkempt. Overcame by exhaustion, he analyzed the ambient.   
"Are you kidding me?" Mason said. "What is he doing here?"  
"How am I supposed to know? Wait, do you think he knows about Bryan?"

Mason walked up to Connor without answering the question.  
"What are you doing here?" his irritation was clear in his voice.  
"Oh, hey there, birthday boy," Connor was caught by surprise."  
"What. Are. You. Doing. Here?" Mason asked again.  
Zane was surprised at his tone.  
"It's a party, I love parties," Connor moved his arms around in a tipsy manner.

"What do you know about Bryan Miller?" Mason questioned. Zane stood by his side with crossed arms.  
"What?" Connor chuckled and furrowed his brows.  
"Did your father send you here?" Zane said.  
"Why would he... What, what's this about?" Connor struggled to understand.  
Mason looked at Zane, who shrugged.   
"Just answer the questions."  
"Why do you wanna know this?" Connor looked from Mason to Zane in a loop. "Oh!" he now seemed to make out the situation. Mason raised his eyebrows.

"You need money, don't you?" Connor said.  
Mason looked at Zane with an open mouth. "Well, that's none of your business," he tried to stay in the character Connor presumed he was. 

Connor smirked, "Okay... What I know about Bryan... is that he's a son of a bitch who beheaded my uncle-"  
"A statue, he beheaded a statue."  
"Well, it's a threat."  
"Whatever, everyone knows that. Can't you tell us something that could help us find him?" Mason asked.

Connor laughed, "He's worth 500 thousand, you think you're the only one looking for him? All of my dad's team is on this case and they haven't gotten a single clue to where he is."  
"That's impossible. He's a fucking teenager!" Mason yelled.  
"Then go ask him yourself! You want information? I don't have any, okay? My dad is never home, and when he is, he barely talks to me."

Mason and Zane got silent.  
"You want some advice? Stay out of this. Is it money you want? I'll see what I can do, I don't mind, just... Anyone who's got a little too involved with this is dead. Okay? Even people my father knew. Anyone who had information. So... As much as I despise you, you being dead... wouldn't be so nice," Connor let it off his chest.

The boys didn't have time to form their thoughts as someone else got into the scenario.  
"Hey, Mason. Happy birthday, man. Um, do you have a minute?" Liam Morales said in a calm tone.  
Mason furrowed his brows.  
"Yeah, what's up?" he pulled him to a quieter place, far from Zane and Connor. Zane wondered what it was about.

"Look, I promise you this is the last time I'm asking you this, okay? I just really need it..." the boy towered over Mason, standing at, at least, a foot taller than him.  
"Dude, I'm not doing this again, I got into real trouble last time and I-"  
"I know, I know. But it's just for once, okay? Your mom is not even gonna notice."  
"Dad," Mason corrected him.  
"Right. Your dad is not even gonna notice. Just one pill."

Mason stood silent.  
"Come on, man. It's easy money."  
"I'm really not into doing this now, Liam, can't you just find somebody else? I'm sure there's plenty-"   
"I am gonna do that, I am. But you know it's not that easy to get a prescription anymore," Liam made sure to be quiet, even though no one really cared for what they were talking about, except maybe for Zane. "I just don't know that many people here-"  
"That's... Not true at all," Mason paused and so did Liam. "Okay, come on." he grabbed Liam by the arm and walked towards the staircase. Then gestured to Zane he would be back soon.

"Five pills for eighty?" Liam asked.  
"There are antidepressants too. Zoloft. Klonopin. Sure it would make good money," Mason said as he placed 5 Adderall tablets on his hand. The boys stood in front of the bathroom cabinet.  
"I'm not selling it. I just have this big exam coming up and, you know, I'm not really-"  
"Five for a hundred, is that okay?"   
"Alright," Liam smiled. "Okay, now give me your phone."

Mason pulled his phone out of the pocket, opening his bank app. He soon handed it to Liam, who arranged the transaction. The boy then placed his wrist on top of the phone. '150$ transaction from William Morales', a message appeared.

Mason looked up to him surprised.  
"Happy birthday, man. I'm gonna go now. See you at school?"  
"Yeah."  
Liam offered his hand for a handshake and fist bump. He then put the tablets in his pockets as he left the room, taking one last glance at Mason.

Agnes wandered through the crowd of drunk and passed out people as she tried to get to the balcony. With a beer bottle in hand, she found herself close to a familiar face, but was too zoned out to remember who it was. In the past hour she spent her time distracted by the thought of drinking any type of liquid she thought had a good looking label, instead of doing what Zane and Mason assigned her to do. 

She slid closer to the familiar looking girl and took a glance at her. The girl held what seemed like a vape pen by her mouth and turned to look at Agnes, who then noticed the pink hair.  
Now she remembered.

"Are you..." Agnes squished her eyes as if it would make a difference. "Shay Martínez?"


End file.
